The problem with following horses

There is a postulation that United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches was based on the width of an Imperial Roman chariot, which was set based on the width of two horse’s backsides. In more modern times, the solid rocket boosters of the Space Shuttle had their dimensions limited to facilitate rail shipping, though a larger design would have been preferable. The end result is that the Space Shuttle may well have been designed to a great extent because of the size of a horse’s behind.

Much of what happens in business similarly occurs because “that’s how we’ve always done it” legacy procedure. This results in a type of myopia that results in incremental results and limited progress. Accepting and acting on “conventional wisdom” as fact, without consideration of alternatives, limits progress to the results you’ve received in the past.

In contrast, breakthrough changes deliver geometric improvements that are enabled with fresh perspectives, creativity, and insight. Basically, doing things differently than they’ve been done, and being open to possibilities.

A simple example of “that’s how we’ve always done it” is time based billing for services. There’s no particular correlation between an hourly fee and the value of the service provided. In fact, such methodology actually introduces a conflict of interest. The party supplying the service has a financial interest in increasing the number of hours billed and time to delivery, with no stake in the quality of the result.  The recipient conversely benefits from efficient, quality, accurate results in their best interests.

Despite the disconnect between rate, value, and conflicts of interest, hourly billing remains common because at some point in history, a worker was able to complete a particular quantity of tasks in an hour, and hourly cost approximately reflected results. Many companies still follow the horses in this area, and the result often ends with them stepping into some messy situations. The focus is on hours, rather than reaching their goal. With that focus, they get the hours, and don’t necessarily attain the goal.

Instead of hours as a benchmark, why not use goals, results, strategy, and ways to increase value? Typically, the client concern is that “we’ve always paid hourly fees. How will we know how much value you deliver?” After a bit of discussion and education, we come to agreement on goals and how to measure the value of the service. From there, it’s a matter of executing the plan to effect the result to deliver value.

There are many more examples of this phenomena. While providing UNIX and Linux performance consulting, I find that many people consider a high load average value to be a problem. A few places were ready to replace hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and devote thousands of hours in an effort to resolve performance problems that would not have been resolved with an equipment upgrade. I was able to save those clients time and money by working with them to resolve the problem using thoughtful improvement suggestions.

The choice is yours: Do you want to keep following the horses, because that’s what has always been done, or do you consider the best ways to improve your business?

This article was written by Doug Spencer, a technical and business consultant who helps companies utilize technology to improve business operations. Doug’s experience spans many industries, company sizes, and technologies.

Doug helps companies to realize their potential by utilizing his experience to enhance client revenue and save costs. Doug can be reached via e-mail at forhire99@gmail.com, or on LinkedIN at http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougspencer.